Car and Driver Tested: The 15 Quickest Cars of the 21st Century (So Far)

Car and Driver

Nov 17, 2017

Michael Simari

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We're in a golden era of speed. Every single car on this list bursts from zero to 60 mph before the second hand ticks three times. It’s hard to imagine that cars will continue to get quicker and quicker at the same pace we’ve witnessed over the decades, but we’re eagerly awaiting the first car that breaks the mile-a-minute barrier in less than two seconds. You know it’s coming.

Be sure to also take a spin through the quickest cars we tested in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

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Michael Simari

15. 2015 Tesla Model S P90D — 2.8 seconds (tie)

February 2016

Tesla’s product architect, Elon Musk, must have been watching a Mel Brooks marathon on TNT when he picked “Ludicrous Speed,” straight out of Spaceballs, as the tag for the fastest acceleration mode in his Model S P90D. And indeed, one must have balls from outer space to fully exploit this car’s launch performance. To sort heroic acts from hype, we ran this electric missile through our test gantlet with, shall we say, shocking results. READ MORE ››

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Steve Siler

14. 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet — 2.8 seconds (tie)

March 2015

Our old mental image of the Porsche 911 as that expensive but attainable little sports car for people willing to stretch just a bit from a Corvette has been outdated for several years now. First off, the 911 is no longer little, being half an inch longer than the hardly-small C7 Corvette. And its attainability, if it ever existed, seems a distant memory. Although you can order a stripper Carrera for $85,295, thanks to Porsche’s thick catalog of available options, it seems ages since we’ve seen one for less than $100K. And here we have the top-dog 911, the Turbo S Cabriolet, with a stunning price of $210,620, a figure that moves the 911 beyond its traditional phylum in the near-exotic and fully into the realm of boutique bolide. READ MORE >>

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Marc Urbano

13. 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.8 seconds (tie)

June 2011

A Turbo S has no clutch pedal. The carbon-ceramic brakes make crunchy-granola sounds when applied at walking speeds. The rear seat is a tad tight. Except for these foibles, this 530-hp buggy is within spitting distance of perfection. READ MORE >>

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12. 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet — 2.7 seconds (tie)

March 2017

Behold the rarest of Porsche 911 Turbos. And by 911 Turbos, we mean only this current 991.2 generation. So, actually, we’re brewing up something of a statistical tempest in a teacup here, but try to follow along: The Porsche 911 Turbo cabriolet does not sell in big numbers, because this car with its $172,550 base price is too cheap for the majority of 911 Turbo cabrio buyers, who, we are informed by Porsche, generally spring for the 580-hp Turbo S (add $28,900) over this lowly 540-hp version. And, actually, the majority of all 911 Turbo buyers go for a coupe anyway. And when we say “the majority,” we really mean barely enough people to populate a decent curling tournament, as 911 Turbos are now up in the rare air where Bentleys and Aston Martins fly and thus do not sell in big numbers, period. READ MORE ››

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Charlie Magee

11. 2016 McLaren 570S — 2.7 seconds (tie)

June 2016

All modern mid-engined supercars live in the long shadow of the Lamborghini Countach, a magically outlandish vehicle that was, to put it bluntly, a bit of a handful. A wedge shape and goofball doors remain as hallmarks of the genre, but supercars as actual cars have improved hugely. The 570S fully upholds McLaren’s reputation, begun with the original McLaren F1, of taking the supercar business seriously and building both a voluptuous screaming doorstop and a legitimate handler. But a supercar is not a race car, not when you have an almost–race car to compare it against. READ MORE ››

The Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce has no carpet, sound deadening, USB ports, Bluetooth phone pairing, cruise control, nor any warn­ing labels. And sometimes—like whenever its cooling fans operate—it produces mechanical noises no car this costly should make. It approaches its mission with the same subtlety Donald Trump employs when talking immigration. READ MORE ››

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Charlie Magee

9. 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.7 seconds (tie)

September 2010

If this face doesn’t look familiar, you haven’t been paying attention. The basic envelope has been evolving since 1965, and turbocharging has been a 911 powertrain option since 1976 in the U.S. READ MORE >>

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Scott G. Toepfer

8. 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo — 2.6 seconds (tie)

February 2017

What can you say about a car that hits 60 mph in 2.6 seconds? That it’s quick, and that quick is beautiful. From the high perch of a crossover, the Turbo might look like a thousand other 911s, but that’s because the reactor core behind the rear wheels can’t be seen from above. We’d call that inner beauty, and isn’t that what’s important? READ MORE ››

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Steve Siler

7. 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet — 2.6 seconds (tie)

June 2017

There are two ways to look at the freshened-for-2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S cabriolet: as an abomination that has forsaken its roots, so powerful, so complex, so opulent, and so expensive that the playful spirit of the original 356 is utterly lost; or as a transcendent 911, a convertible hypercar with seating for four. We pondered both while putting a stunning Night Blue Metallic Turbo S cabriolet with a brown top through its paces in Southern California and found plenty of evidence to support each argument. No matter your sentiment, one must respect that the new 991.2-based 911 Turbo S ragtop is the quickest four-seat convertible that we’ve ever tested. READ MORE ››

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Marc Urbano

6. 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.6 seconds (tie)

July 2016

Line up these three rides, and the Turbo stands tall and upright, looking, at least in this company, like just a regular coupe. It doesn’t have any faux racing addenda; no gleaming, lacquered carbon-fiber bodywork; no rear aerodynamic diffuser; no silly doors. And it speaks softly, with none of the sturm und drang of the other two. Even the turbos are demure. The McLaren is forever hissing and raging. But it’s easy to miss the subtle breaths of the Porsche’s ­turbos—in the same way you never hear the quick inhalations that people tuck between words when they speak, unless you listen for them specifically. READ MORE ››

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Car and DriverRobert Kerian

5. 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.6 seconds (tie)

May 2014

Have you ever peeked through the window of a sports car to see what transmission it has? Did you scoff and silently judge the owner for saddling his or her sports car with an automatic? We’ve done that, too. But if you spot a new 911 Turbo on the street, don’t bother peering through the glass; this one only comes with a dual-clutch automatic. READ MORE >>

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Charlie Magee

4. 2015 Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 — 2.5 seconds (tie)

September 2014

You may know the Nardò Ring as the 7.8-mile asphalt track where the world’s automakers take their top-speed vacations. A traffic-free circular autobahn in the heel of Italy’s boot, the Porsche-owned test track is banked such that you can take your hands off any car’s steering wheel at 149 mph in the outer lane. It’s one of the few places on the planet where Lamborghini’s new 10-cylinder wedge, the Huracán, could prove to us how aerodynamically sound it is approaching its claimed top speed of 202 mph. READ MORE >>

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Marc Urbano

3. 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S — 2.5 seconds (tie)

March 2015

It’s easy to get into a fast rhythm here. The car feels nimble and tossable. From inside, the flat-six snarls and barks as 911s have since 1965. From outside, though, it’s a different story. On boost, the Turbo S sounds like so much escaping air, like the devil’s own blowtorch. READ MORE >>

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Jeffrey Dworin

2. 2008 Bugatti Veyron — 2.5 seconds (tie)

December 2008

Driving a Bugatti Veyron is like carrying a 14.6-foot-long open wallet that is spewing 50-dollar bills. Drivers rush up from behind, tailgating before swerving into either of the Veyron’s rear-three-quarter blind spots, where they hang ape-like out of windows to snap photos with their cell phones. They won’t leave, either, because they know the Bugatti, averaging 11 mpg, can’t go far without refueling and that its driver will soon need to take a minute to compose himself. And when you open the Veyron’s door to exit—a gymnastic feat that requires grabbing one of your own ankles to drag it across that huge, hot sill—you will be greeted by 5 to 15 persons wielding cameras and asking questions. If you’re wearing shorts or a skirt, here’s a tip: Wear underwear. READ MORE >>